The Blackmail

As Gina saw her twin brother for the first time for about since childhood, she felt surprised and troubled about what his attitude seemed to be nowadays. Because he was into stating that associates of his were unreliable, and self-centeredly he spoke about them as foolish and unreasonable. Thereby she felt that he had probably grown out of his character and sufficed, somehow, to become awkwardly into indecorous and improper criticism.

The parlour they sat in was dimly lit. They had met here in order to talk about the fifteen years that had passed since he and she separated when their parents divorced. He had lived with his father and she her mother, and those two had been too antagonistic against each other to even let their two children meet. But a few days ago Gina contacted her brother and he agreed to meet her.

“But Harold,” she asked, “do you really mean to tell me they're all into such pretences and stuff? That is, I don't believe they could all be into it without that having to mean you should change your workplace!”

“That's because,” Harold answered, “if I move to another workplace, those who are nasty to me at my present one will have it seem that they had reason enough for treating me that way. That is they wold sooner or later have the new people also treat me that way!”

Gina seemed concerned when she said: “I bet that it isn't about what there could be to that danger of oddities that you don't want to realize aren't actually too weird to accept. ...”

“It's about those oddities seeming normal and there hardly being any occasions of security against that they can be trusted as normal - not for them, that is. But for me there has been!”

“And what are they?”

“One of them is that my colleague has pretended that I am inane, and that she has everyone thinking about me that way. Also, she pretends I'm artfully into pretending everyone else is immature in the ways she pretends I am. Thereby, also, the rest of my colleagues are into viewing me as such.”

“Really? What can be the reason for them taking her part and believing her all that much?”

He sighed. “As far as I can tell it's because she seemingly isn't too stuck up to be trusted.”

She looked at him. “Do you mean she isn't trying to pretend she's really something but still trying to pretend you are such a low person that you should be seen that way?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “She really does seem to be into that.,and she is quite artful in her pretensions.”

“Oh! And at the same time she pretends that you are the artful one?”

“Yeah, that's what she is to me.” a bit gloomily.

“How come then you don't go out and tell everybody that you are not artful, and that she's just pretending that you are?”

“I've tried that. But they have still believed her rather than me!”

“It's not true that you've come the right way about it if they don't apprehend that you aren't quite into anything like that, and it's not true that she shouldn't be the one whom you could have seem to be the one who's artful and fake!”

He sighed again. “It's easy to say that, Gina. Bit there's no way to stop her from having them believe her just the same!”

“Then there should be another solution. Why don't you go talk to her about it and say to her that she's wrong about you?”

“When I speak to her she's into believing her own stories about me, and treats me as though I was being artful about her. ...”

His sister looked thoughtful. “What then can make her seem so believable? Isn't it she who aught to seem as it is to view you that way?”

Looking at her he answered. “Gina, it's not I who can decide that about her. I can't have seem to be what she really is. It's not I who can stop that process of them trusting her and not me.”

“Oh, and then I have to pretend she isn't to be seen as that fake whom they should ostracized rather than you? Aren't they into any form of realizing what is really truthful and what isn't?”

“They seem to be into that, but only for reasons that aren't applicable in my case.”

She looked chocked. “Oh, so that woman gets away with her blackmail and you just can't do anything! Then I should go speak to them! Perhaps I can set things straight around there.”

“I hope so. If you can do that, then perhaps things will become alright for me again.”

“Good. Then I will go there and straighten things out tomorrow, and I will do it so that they'll actually will realize that it isn't you who are stuck-up nor artful!”

“Great! Thereby we can work together and perhaps even come to terms with those colleagues of mine. Do you know the address of my workplace?”

“No. Perhaps you can scribble it down for me?”

He did. Handing her the note he stated: “Now see to it that she isn't there when you start talking to them. Because she is a very sly and cunning woman. Thereby you can perhaps have the upper hand against her.”

A few days later, after Gina had spoken to Harold's colleagues, his partner said to him: “I see that you and your sister have formed an alliance against me. How come you think we should think you are what you say just because you have a sister backing you up? Isn't it you who should behave in a certain way without having to involve a someone to pretend you do it?”

He looked at her. “There's no reason for me to be talking to you! It's not you who should ever have been at my work place to begin with! Because I have suffered a lot of blackmail from you, and I ain't willing to seem applicable for it again!”